VZCZCXRO8615
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #1665 1760921
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250921Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9714
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KABUL 001665 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: GHOR: ALL ELECTIONERRING IS LOCAL 
 
¶1. (SBU) As the election campaign in Ghor kicks off, Governor Sayed 
Iqbal Munib appears to be campaigning for President Karzai.  Munib 
began a flurry of travel throughout the province in early June, 
visiting three districts in 10 days, twice with Lithuanian PRT 
members.  According to PRT officers, Independent Election Commission 
(IEC) and UNAMA officials, his appeals vary from soft reminders that 
people should remember the people "who are in government and helping 
you now" to direct mentions of Karzai - though these direct appeals 
have been out of earshot of press or PRT officials. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Coordination between the governor's office and the IEC on 
security matters is moving slowly.  The governor's office appears to 
be avoiding the IEC, shrugging off IEC and PRT suggestions to 
convene a meeting between the IEC and Afghan National Security 
Forces to work out a provincial security plan.  For several weeks, 
Munib has promised that a plan would be agreed upon, but as of June 
23 no official meetings have been held to discuss the issue. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) There has been little Provincial Council campaign activity 
thus far.  Other than standard IEC election posters and the 
occasional picture of PC candidates in car windshields, there are 
few visual reminders that it is election season.  More than half of 
Ghor's PC members (8 of 15) are not running for re-election.  Two of 
them told PRT officer that their experience as PC members was 
unsatisfying, and felt that they lacked real authority.  They 
complained that it was their job to listen to peoples' problems and 
work with the governor to resolve them, but that the governor rarely 
came through and it was the PC that had to deliver the bad news to 
their constituents. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  PRT officer has heard chatter among local residents and 
election officials anticipating that some PC candidates will 
mobilize people from their districts to interfere with the voting 
and ballot counting on election day to secure a victory, but there 
has been no concrete evidence of fraud thus far. More than one 
Provincial Council candidate has pressured the provincial election 
official (PEO) to get friends appointed as District Field 
Coordinators (DFC), who are theoretically charged with preventing 
fraud.  One PC Candidate, Mohammad Sharif Ramuzi, even went over the 
Ghor PEO's head and lobbied the IEC headquarters in Kabul for a 
special appointment.  He couched his request as a complaint that no 
Hazaras were chosen as DFCs in Ghor.  However, the friend he 
recommended for DFC had failed his interview - and was not Hazara 
himself.  It appears that the IEC has held firm so far in the face 
of pressure, at both the local and national levels. 
 
¶5. (U) The administrative work of the local IEC office appears on 
track to hire civic society educators and election staff and is 
finalizing its district field coordinators.  The Ghor PEO, who is 
competent and engaged, reports that communications equipment are 
adequate. 
 
EIKENBERRY